Interesting slide show ranking the top 10 designated hitters and Bleacher Report (B/R) ranked Dunn #5. Looking back with 20-20 hindsight, the Sox signed Dunn in early December 2010. The Blue Jays were lucky enough to sign Edwin Encarnacion, who is the #1 B/R D-H, as a free agent after clearing waivers from Oakland. in mid December 2010. He greatly improved to a near-40 home run player when they switched him to DH from 3B/1B. They paid him low, but recently gave him an extension around 66% of Dunn's annual. Jays got lucky too with the Sox taking Rios' salary off their books. Hopefully the Sox will do better with their roster in the future, not be too careless, as they rebuld.http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...gnated-hitters

The Sox blew the division because the offense fell flat. No one died a more spectacular death than Dunn.

From Aug 1 to the end of the season Dunn went .186/.295/.389. Worse, the Sox blew the division with a stretch for Sep 19 to Sep 30 in which the Sox went 2-10, primarily due to scoring a little more than 2 runs a game. Dunn went 5 for 43. He did manage a 2 HR 4RBI game that the Sox won, but in the other eleven games, he drove in zero runs.

__________________"Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be."

All of his comments seem more "defeatist" then someone who has the drive and motivation to prove himself-

Ventura quoted in press as saying "he's tired"- if that's true- that's pathetic- he's a DH that was sat alot in May/June with injuries-

Mentally tired probably. That has nothing to do with how strong you are physically. A season like this has to wear on a player, especially one in Dunn's shoes who has struggled to live up to expectations, was the only guy on the team hitting during the heart of the season, is nearing the end of his prime years and still hasn't won a title. I imagine he's staring the end of his playing days right in the face and doesn't like how it's ending. That can lead to a lot of stress and anxiety.

__________________Riding shotgun on the Sox bandwagon since before there was an Internet...

Mentally tired probably. That has nothing to do with how strong you are physically. A season like this has to wear on a player, especially one in Dunn's shoes who has struggled to live up to expectations, was the only guy on the team hitting during the heart of the season, is nearing the end of his prime years and still hasn't won a title. I imagine he's staring the end of his playing days right in the face and doesn't like how it's ending. That can lead to a lot of stress and anxiety.

Or it could be that his lack of offseason conditioning has caught up to him this year just like it did last season. Both years he completely ran out of gas after a 2 month hot streak in June/July that brought his numbers up to respectable levels. At least he is consistent, I guess.

Or it could be that his lack of offseason conditioning has caught up to him this year just like it did last season. Both years he completely ran out of gas after a 2 month hot streak in June/July that brought his numbers up to respectable levels. At least he is consistent, I guess.

+1

The next time anyone hears about Dunn's "rigorous offseason regimen"- will be the first.

You'd think after 2-3 years of not earning your salary and letting down your teammates- you'd dig deeper to get into the best shape possible.

Not Adam- that's not his style.

After all of his quotes about not being sure if he wants to come back, and how he doesn't work out in the offseason, etc.- I just think he is not a winner/champion- he's a one dimensional softball player without any real drive for excellence.

The next time anyone hears about Dunn's "rigorous offseason regimen"- will be the first.

You'd think after 2-3 years of not earning your salary and letting down your teammates- you'd dig deeper to get into the best shape possible.

Not Adam- that's not his style.

After all of his quotes about not being sure if he wants to come back, and how he doesn't work out in the offseason, etc.- I just think he is not a winner/champion- he's a one dimensional softball player without any real drive for excellence.

In other words he doesn't have TWTW. Perfect illustration of how people actually do use this "stat" when debating the value of a player.

Criticizing a player for a lousy or nonexistent off season workout regimen is not an indictment on the saber stat people. TomBradley72 is totally correct in his assessment of Dunn IMO. If anything Dunn's performance with the Sox gives credence to saber. Take a look at his OWAR and DWAR with the Sox. He should have been busting his tail in the off season. Some people are winners in business, sports and life in general. Adam Dunn isn't one of them.

Mentally tired probably. That has nothing to do with how strong you are physically. A season like this has to wear on a player, especially one in Dunn's shoes who has struggled to live up to expectations, was the only guy on the team hitting during the heart of the season, is nearing the end of his prime years and still hasn't won a title. I imagine he's staring the end of his playing days right in the face and doesn't like how it's ending. That can lead to a lot of stress and anxiety.

You beat me to it. To play a game that I used to pay to play and would again if I wasnt a broken down old man. Then to have no financial worries for your offspring's offsprings offsprings offsprings, my heart bleeds for the poor guy.

I did not suggest you should, merely pointing out that there are different reasons a person can feel tired. I imagine most of the veterans on this team are pretty burned out and only the kids trying to earn regular PT in the majors are fired up to continue playing at the moment.